Why him, not ME?

A monk who lived in the desert who resisted all the Devil's efforts at temptation. The demons that whispered to the man of greed, lust, and hatred were rebuffed as the man turned his heart to God. Then, one demon whispered, "Your brother was just made a bishop!" The monk fell immediately into the sin of envy wondering why he was not given the position: "All these years of devotion and they recognize my brother?"

Ever envied another, wondering ‘why them, not me?’  I will confess that I have and that nothing good followed. If we start to look around and compare ourselves to others we will grow discontent and from there, slip into envy. Somebody is running ahead of us in some way.  

Despite our education, he makes more money. 
His marriage looks so great; we struggle to keep ours intact.
He proudly displays his kid’s trophy, our kid struggles just to get an average grade.

The all-too-common tendency in us is to see the 'advantage' that is enjoyed by the other guy.  Envy blinds us to our blessings. It causes us diminish another's success. It robs us of opportunities.  No wonder the Bible says that "envy rots the bones." (Proverbs 14:30, NIV)  

A true test of noble character is contentment with God’s gifts and the ability to celebrate the success of another person!  David, whose story unfolds in 1st Samuel, went to serve King Saul after his victory over the giant, Goliath. David served him well, but all Saul could hear, every time he looked at the teenage hero, was the echo of the women’s voices who sang David's praises.  "Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands." (1 Samuel 18:7, NKJV) Envy drove the king mad.  Saul sent David away from the court, trying to get him out of the public’s eye by giving him charge of a small contingent of soldiers on the borders of Israel.  How did Israel's hero respond to being sent to the frontier? David was faithful in obscurity! God saw to it that he continued to succeed in everything he did.  This made Saul “even more afraid of him." (1 Samuel 18:13- 15, NLT) Over the next 20 years,  Saul's jealousy drove him deeper into insanity. At the same time, David's character grew stronger as he faithfully and selflessly served God and king.

Are you able to celebrate another's success?
Are you an encourager or an envier?

James gives no excuse for envy.  The Spirit shows us that it is a seed of all kinds of sinful behavior! "If you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness." (James 3:14-18, NIV)   What an amazing and practical Word.  I pray to own it in my heart, do you?

Stay centered in God’s loving acceptance, always giving thanks!  Nothing kills envy more quickly than true gratitude which feeds real contentment.  There are amazing things to learn about those who live around us and life is richer, much richer, when it isn't about 'me, mine, and myself.'

The devil was the first to injure himself and others on account of jealousy and envy. Before he had ever hurled anyone else down by the impulse of his envy, he himself was hurled down by it. Through envy, he himself became a captive before he had ever taken anyone else captive; he himself was wrecked before he had ever wrecked others. How great an evil is it by which an angel could fall, by which such lofty and illustrious grandeur could be defrauded and overthrown—by which the one who deceived was himself deceived! Ever since then envy has raged on earth. Those who are perishing through jealousy are simply obeying the author of their ruin, imitating the devil in his envy.  - Cyprian of Carthage.  (a church father who lived about 200 AD)  (as quoted in Discipleship Journal : Issue 120. NavPress, 2000)

_______________

Father, I accept Your will for my life.

I pray for the grace to wait for You in hard times,

to give thanks in good times, and

to be faithful in all times!

Teach me to do my personal best as I remember

that You never forget, never overlook, and

klnow everything – even those things hidden.

Jesus, I pray that Your love will fill up my heart

making me a person who overflows

with life-giving words and encouragement

growing out of true gratitude.

Amen.

(Thank you for reading along.  CWTW will be back in your inbox on July 31. It’s time to take a break)

God, like a slick salesman?

When we balk at obeying the Lord's word and will, what we're really saying is "I don't trust You." I remember giving my kids direction that they did not like. When they argued, "it's not fair," or "nobody else has to do that," or "you are so mean," - I reminded them that I needed them to trust me. My experience and maturity gave me reason for whatever it was I asked of them. One of the more gratifying things in my life today is when those same children, now in their 30's, thank me for having the courage to be a real father, willing to risk their anger, able to stand my ground. They now understand why it was important to learn how to manage their money, to keep their commitments, to show up on time, to learn good work habits, to practice self-discipline.

Our Heavenly Father sometimes leads us down paths that we would prefer to avoid. For example, our marriage hits a tough spot, with little apparent love and affection. God says, "Be faithful!" Do we stay the course, or argue with Him? "Lord, life is so short. Why should I hang in there when I could find another who would make me so much happier." "Trust me, son, I know what I'm asking of you and I'll make a way for you."   Somebody reminded me yesterday of a sermon I preached years ago about not letting our lives be guided merely by expedience. I'm glad she remembers, I don't! But, I am familiar with that line of thought. We are tempted to take the solution that 'makes the most sense' in the moment, to take the job that offers the most money, to move to the city that appeals to our natural desires. Sometimes common sense and the will of God are aligned, but if we will not trust Him to lead, how will we know that?

Did it make much sense for Abraham to leave Ur, an established city where his family lived, to go live in tents in Canaan? It took years for his faith to return a visible reward.

Did it make much sense for Noah to start building a boat 600 miles from any significant body of water? For 120 years, he was mocked as a fool, until the rain started.

Did it make sense for Daniel to maintain his habit of daily prayer when the king forbade it on the pain of death? He ended up in the lion's den, which God turned into a gateway to greater influence in the empire!

When God says, "trust Me!" remember that He is not a slick salesman trying to sucker you into a bad deal. His way is the path to life, abundant and eternal. Proverbs warns us that "There's a way that looks harmless enough; look again-it leads straight to hell." (Proverbs 16:25, The Message) If you are struggling with a decision: stop, look up, and listen carefully. Do not rush forward. Trust Him.  When He directs, do not argue. Obey!  

We trust Him most profoundly when we give up our attempts to 'be right' and accept His gift of grace and salvation. Like Paul, let's decide that "everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to obey God's law, but I trust Christ to save me." (Philippians 3, NLT)

Here's a word from the Word. Let's make it our trusting prayer for this day, leading us to greater obedience.

"Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation."

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

In that day you will say: "Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted.

Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world." (Isaiah 12:2-5, NIV)

God can’t love me! If He did, He would make me happy

The surrender of Self, submission to the will of God, is the key issue of the Christian life. “She wants to have her cake and eat it, too” he said to me through tears.  His wife is convinced that having an open marriage is the key to her happiness. She wants to discard what she knows of the Scripture.  She is convinced that living for the Lord will steal her happiness.  A wife and mother struggling to find joy in the mundane work of her household finds herself tested by acceptance of her place.  So does the powerful executive who faces the choice to use his influence to build his own kingdom or God’s.  Will Jesus or Self be Lord, is the question faced by a teenager feeling the pull of his hormones and yet knowing the command of God about his sexuality.  A man trying to balance his budget sees the tithe (10% belonging to God) and must decide to give it or keep it. The test of submission comes to us all!

Behind the question, self or God, is faith. Choosing our own will often offers the most immediate reward. Walking God’s path, while yielding present joys, focuses primarily on things as yet unseen, on rewards anticipated only by promises! "What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see … So, you see, it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. … It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in a tent. And so did Isaac and Jacob, to whom God gave the same promise. Abraham did this because he was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God." (Hebrews 11:1, 6, 8-10, NLT)

Here’s the paradox.  We do not will ourselves to believe, nor do we create faith by commanding ourselves – “Believe!”  Faith is the gift of God, given to us at the point of our desperation. Like that young father who saw his tormented son and was nearly overwhelmed by the impossibility of his condition, we cry out, “Lord, help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)  There is no need to make ourselves pretty, to pretend to be other than we are, when we rush into the Father’s Presence.  We take our conflicted self and lay it before Him, confessing what we want, who we are, the terrible pull of our temptation.  And, there we receive the gift of faith to give ourselves away. Only then can we find the joy that is possible when Self dies.

Have you started to believe the devil’s life that God is mean, that He takes away happiness, that He crushes the life out of His people? Tell Him that!  Then, wait for the rise of the Spirit, the birth of new faith which enables the choice of submission to Him.  I promise (based on His Word, not my experience alone) that joy will come.  It most likely will be a joy you cannot even conceive at the moment of the testing.

Here is the word from the Word. May the Lord use it to plant a new seed in our minds and hearts from which strong faith grows. “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God." (Colossians 3:1-3, NIV) "Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices" (Colossians 3:9, NIV)  "Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." (Colossians 3:12-13, NIV)  "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." (Colossians 3:17, NIV)

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Treasures

One by one He took them from me,
All the things I valued most,
Until I was empty-handed;
Every glittering toy was lost.

And I walked earth's highways, grieving.
In my rags and poverty.
Till I heard His voice inviting,
"Lift your empty hands to Me!"

So I held my hands toward heaven,
And He filled them with a store
Of His own transcendent riches,
Till they could contain no more.

And at last I comprehended
With my stupid mind and dull,
That God COULD not pour His riches
Into hands already full!

--Martha Snell Nicholson

A Healer?

The surgeon picked up a scalpel and cut my flesh! He made a terrible wound on my body, worse than any accidental cut in my entire life.  His work was to bring about wholeness by cutting away that part of me that was diseased, that would sicken my body if not removed.  The physical therapist coaxed my damaged knee to move.  Her first efforts hurt worse than the original injury.  But, today I walk without a limp because the pain she caused strengthened the ligaments and tendons, causing them to function as they should.  The preacher spoke the Truth. His words painted a vision in my mind, giving me hope, stirring my desire to know Christ and live in the power of the Spirit. He opened my soul to the healing that Christ provided at the Cross! 

Are you a healer?  Healers bring wholeness.  You need not be a physician, a therapist, a preacher, or a counselor by profession to be a healer.  You must be filled with the Spirit and ready to forget your Self. Interestingly, healing is not externally given, though many seek it in that way.  The surgeon who cut away the diseased part of my body created a wound. He made it possible for my body to heal itself!  You and I cannot heal others spiritually, but we can bath  them in prayer that pushes the obstacles to their finding wholeness out of the way. We cannot take away addictions or habits of sin but we can offer encouragement and hope that help healing to come. We cannot forgive sin but we can point to Christ (with words and living demonstration of faith) Who restores the relationship to the Father. From the Spirit, healing flows into that person.

I pondered this wisdom about healing from Proverbs. Take a look.  "There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, but the tongue of the wise promotes health. " (Proverbs 12:18, NKJV)  "A wicked messenger falls into trouble, but a faithful ambassador brings health. " (Proverbs 13:17, NKJV)  "Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones. " (Proverbs 16:24, NKJV)  Are my words healing or harming?  Am I wise, faithful to the truth, and kind? If so, I open up the possibility of healing!

As we read the Gospels, Jesus' work in healing is reported again and again. He saw illness of mind, soul, and body and brought wholeness.  He did so in response to faith, an openness on the part of those in need to receive.  He created possibility, they believed and received. There, too, I am challenged. Does my life create possibilities for others?  I am often tempted to assume the wrong role in my desire for wholeness in others. I want to make the choice of healing for them.  That only creates frustration.  I cannot make a marriage whole if those who are married are unwilling to make the choice to forgive and love. I cannot turn a sinner into a saint if he is unwilling to forsake his old ways and turn to Christ to receive the Spirit's life! I cannot make a sick person well if he persists in living in unhealthy ways.  Yes, I desire to be a person who brings healing, but I am only an agent.  The restoration of wholeness comes as a gift from God that can only be received by the broken.

This passage, our word from the Word, intrigues me with the possibilities offered. Read it thoughtfully, prayerfully, and ask God to make you a healer today.
"Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master.
Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you've sinned, you'll be forgiven-healed inside and out.

Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn't rain, and it didn't-not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again.

My dear friends, if you know people who have wandered off from God's truth, don't write them off. Go after them. Get them back and you will have rescued precious lives from destruction and prevented an epidemic of wandering away from God." (James 5:13-20, The Message)

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Touch Through Me

Touch through me Holy Spirit

Touch through me

Let my hands reach out to others

Touch through me

There's a lonely soul somewhere

Needing just one friend to care

Touch through me Holy Spirit

Touch through me

Flow through me Holy Spirit

Flow through me

Like a river in the desert

Flow through me

Springing fountain healing stream

Living water pure and clean

Flow through me Holy Spirit

Flow through me

Dottie Rambo

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